Watch Out For This Windows 10 Email Scam– As with any major event, the underbelly of the internet will always show itself. Many of you may be waiting for your notification to upgrade to Windows 10. Please be careful and avoid a dodgy phishing email that the crooks’ are using as their method-of-choice for getting their harmful software onto your machine. Make sure you read If you’re waiting for Windows 10, watch out for this email scam …

Become A Professional Windows Snapper In No Time– If you want to become a true Windows multi-tasker then you need to learn how to snap windows that you have open. What this is all about is learning how to snap Windows into a split screen view and with Windows 10 you can even get four neatly snapped Windows at once to create a quad view… @Yahoo Tech

Use Wunderlist To Keep Yourself Organized– Wunderlist is a simple cross-platform task manager you can use to perform over-the-air synchronization irrespective of the device used. It is compatible across all platforms–iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Mac, Android, Windows Phone, Windows and the Web. If you didn’t know, on June 2nd Wunderlist made an announcement that they were joining Microsoft.

My Take On Windows 10 – I intentionally did not test or try any of the Windows 10 insider beta (test) versions, prior to the public release. I wanted to see what my first impression would be.

My first impression is this — The Windows 10 upgrade installation on my Windows 7 based notebook computer (older Toshiba) took approximately 45 minutes. During the install it booted 3 times and during each time a screen appeared with a circle in the middle of the screen indicating at what point the installation was at. It was a straight forward and nothing fancy installation (which is the way it should be…).

After the install was completed I was taken straight to the desktop and there it was; the new Start Menu. Folks, in comparison to Windows 8; Windows 10 is like a hybrid between Windows 7 and Windows 8. There are some changes, but they are changes for the bettter. I was up and running and navigating around with no issue. This old Toshiba was as if a breath of fresh air had been blown into it. I can’t wait to the complete the installation on my main desktop computer. My final take on this is, if you have opportunity to upgrade to Windows 10, I recommend that you do it.

Do This If You Can’t Wait For Your Windows 10 Upgrade – If you are patiently waiting for your upgrade notification (which could take days and even weeks); there is another option. It is the Windows 10 Media Creation Tool. I am an impatient old geek; therefore, I am using this tool to perform my upgrade. MAKE SURE you read the next paragraph to learn what to expect if you do use the Media Creation Tool.

Using the Media Creation Tool To Upgrade Your Computer From Windows 7 to Windows 10 – I am most certain that these same steps will work to upgrade from Windows 8.1 to Windows 10, as well. Addictive Tips has posted an article that gives a Step By Step Upgrade Process From Windows 7 To Windows 10 …

The Differences Between Windows 8 and Windows 10– I currently have my Windows 8.1 desktop and an older Windows 7 laptop. What surprised me was my Windows 10 upgrade hit the laptop first. I am still waiting for the upgrade for the desktop to kick in. I did complete the upgrade on the laptop and I must say (as first impression) I found Windows 10 quite comfortable to navigate and use; HOWEVER, there are differences between what I was accustomed to in Windows 8 (and Windows 7).

A Windows Tech Toolbox Repair Utility – If you find yourself in a situation where you know that the Windows operating system has been crippled, you may want to give Windows Repair a try. I pretty much has used this as a last resort tool in instances where everything else has failed. I have had good luck with this tool in those instances and yes this program is compatible with Windows 10. I have added this utility to the portable apps swarm on the downloads page.

Bookmark This Online File Converter – I recently needed a quick way to perform a file conversion from one file format to another. Instead of having to find and download software, and factoring in the learning curve, I use an online converter called CloudConvertthat supports the conversion between more than 200 different audio, video, document, ebook, archive, image, spreadsheet and presentation formats.

Featured – Today is the day that Windows 10 is to be released. It will be interesting to watch the tech blogs to see when it starts hitting our computers at home and what people are saying. If you want a good read about the release, go to the Windows blog and check out Windows 10 Free Upgrade Available in 190 Countries Today …

WinScan2PDF – I just added this little program to the downloads page under the Portable Apps swarm. WinScan2PDF is a very small (~40k) and portable program that allows you to scan documents and save them on your computer as a PDF by using any installed scanner. I currently carry a copy of this on my flash drive and have used it on many occasions.

Drift Innovation Stealth 2 Action Camera – Check this out. These mini-cameras continue to fascinate me and the cost is reasonable; especially, for Full HD – 1080p at 30fps & 720p at 60fps… This little beast has a 300 Degree Rotatable Lens which allows you to mount the camera at an angle. Other features: W i-Fi Connectivity – Get full control of the camera using your mobile device Long life battery – 1500 mAh battery giving you 3 hours of recording time… @Amazon

5 must-know Windows 10 tips and tricks – PCWord has this article posted that caught my interest on what they consider five of the most useful Windows 10 tricks and tweaks… @PCWorld

Geek Squeaks is back…– After taking a break from posting Geek Squeaks, I am thinking of bringing it back. Geek Squeaks is a name I came up with as an identifier to my readers that when you see a Geek Squeaks’ post it is a “quick read” compilation of tech news, software, apps and anything for that matter that I think is worth a squeak from an old geek. Geek Squeaks’ are random posts that are not set to any timeline or schedule.

Free Desktop Timer – Free Desktop Timer is a simple utility that allows you to create multiple timers on your desktop. This is one of those kinds of things that you might not even know you need until you try it.

Added Links To The “Software & Apps” Swarm – If you click on the downloads tab at the top of the blog you will see links to Software & Apps sites, FREE Software, Portable Apps, Android Apps and Cloud Computing Apps. I just added some additional sites to the Software & Apps swarm that will take you to reputable software sites. All links and software in each of the swarms are tried, true and tested… I want to publish only the best.

Keep An Eye On This Smartphone – With the OnePlus 2, we have something bold to say. We believe that great products come from great ideas, not multi-million dollar marketing campaigns. We believe “that’s just the way things are” is almost always the wrong answer. Most of all, we believe that great things should be shared. This is the OnePlus 2.

A list of all the Google Now voice commands – Here’s a list of just about everything you can say to Google Now. Try experimenting with different phrasing, you’ll be surprised how much it understands. The part of the phrase in [brackets] can be replaced with any similar term you choose… @greenbot

Windows 10 will start rolling out on July 29, 2015. The strategy, from what I understand, will be to release the upgrade in waves; which, indicates to me your upgrade may not hit your PC for awhile.

In the meantime, to prep everyone, I have been posting information (here and there) about Windows 10 since the beginning of June. To bring this all together I have listed the articles that I have posted (from the most recent to oldest) as a quick reference resource in an effort to help you with the upgrade process and to learn more about Windows 10.

I have been following Windows 10 since its’ early development, and based on Microsoft’s history of good and bad operating system releases, Windows 10 is an operating system that Microsoft knows that they have to get right. I am pretty excited about this release myself and can’t wait to try it… If you are in a situation where you are not eligible for the upgrade and/or you are building a PC, here is a link to buy Windows 10 at Amazon — CLICK HERE

Many of you have taken advantage of the offer from Microsoft by reserving your FREE upgrade to Windows 10. If you are not aware of the offer, please know that you are eligible for the FREE upgrade if you are running Microsoft Windows 7 or Windows 8.1.

To take advantage of the offer, look for the Microsoft Windows 8 logo that should have magically appeared in your system tray (bottom right corner of your screen). You would be surprised of how many folks I have talked to about this and were totally unaware that the logo was present. The graphic below (minus the “Windows 10″ text) is an example of the logo you should be looking for.

This logo appeared through the Windows update service. If you click on the logo you can reserve your copy of Windows 10 (that is scheduled for release on July 29, 2013) and you can confirm that your computer is compatible with Windows 10. This is a full version of Windows 10 and you have up to a year to take advantage of this offer. After the year is up, you will be required to purchase Windows 10 (which, last I looked would be in the ballpark of $120).

Now that you have reserved your copy of Windows 10, you are probably wondering what happens next?

From the time you reserve your copy and when your upgrade is ready, the files needed to perform the upgrade will be downloaded to your computer. You most likely will not even notice this occurring. Microsoft, through their normal update stream is in essence trickling the Windows 10 install files to your computer and setting the stage for the final installation that will occur after July 29, 2015.

I do recommend, prior to this upgrade, that you perform (at the minimum) a backup of your personal files (such as documents, pictures, videos, music, etc…) and to be completely safe perform an image backup of your computer’s hard disk (using software such as AOMEI or Macrium Reflect).

Once the stage has been set, you will get a notification or prompt to launch your upgrade. You can install right away or opt to wait. I know many of us in the tech field opt to never install a fresh release of an OS, but my thoughts on this is that Microsoft must be pretty sure of themselves on this since it will be available to millions and millions of people and are strongly encouraging people to upgrade. I am sure there will be glitches, due to the variables involved (especially with home based computer systems).

After you initiate the launch of the upgrade, it is expected take an hour or more for the upgrade to complete.

Good luck with this… I would really be interested in hearing stories about how your Windows 10 upgrade experience went.

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